ORV Use on Outer Banks

Hello from Surf City! I am forwarding a message I received from the National Park Service conserning ORV usage on the Outer Banks.

National Park Service News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DATE July 18, 2007
CONTACT: 252-473-2111 ext. 148

NPS ANNOUNCES UPDATE ON BEACH ACCESS

Superintendent Mike Murray stated today that the
National Park Service
(NPS) is currently evaluating and considering how to
respond to the recent
Court Order that was issued by U.S. District Court
Judge Terrance W. Boyle
on Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The order indicates that
NPS is not in
compliance with legal requirements to authorize and
manage off-road vehicle
(ORV) use at the Seashore. For the time being the
Seashore continues to
operate under an Interim Strategy and beaches remain
open to off-road
vehicles (ORVs) for the immediate future, with the
exception of beaches
that are closed due to resource protection areas,
annual seasonal village
closures and safety closures.

As background, ORV use on Outer Banks beaches predates
the 1937
authorization of the Seashore. Prior to paving NC
Highway 12 in 1954,
island residents and visitors routinely used the
beaches and interdunal
areas as a transportation route. The completion of
the Bonner Bridge
across Oregon Inlet in 1963 made access to Hatteras
Island much easier
which resulted in increased vehicle use of beaches for
recreational
purposes and use has continued to increase. ORV are
currently used to
access the beaches for many forms of recreational
activities including
swimming, sunbathing, surf fishing, bird watching,
surfing, shell hunting
and scenic driving.

Executive Order 11644 (1972), amended by Executive
Order 11989 (1977),
required certain federal agencies permitting ORV use
on agency lands to
publish regulations designating specific trails and
areas for this use.
Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section
4.10 requires units of
the National Park System allowing ORV use to designate
use areas and routes
by special regulation. Despite previous efforts since
the late 1970s, the
National Park Service (NPS) has yet to develop an ORV
management plan or
regulation that would provide the necessary management
and regulatory
framework to manage ORV use at the Seashore.

To address these issues, Seashore staff has been
working on a three-pronged
approach. First, in January 2006, NPS issued an
Interim Protected Species
Management Strategy (Interim Strategy) to guide
protected species
management practices within the park for approximately
3 years until a
long-term ORV management plan and regulation can be
developed. A final
decision document and Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) for the
Interim Strategy was approved on July 13, 2007 by
Regional Director
Patricia Hooks. Second, on December 11, 2006, NPS
announced in the Federal
Register the intent to develop an ORV management plan
and environmental
impact statement, and has since completed the initial
public scoping in
March 2007 for that planning process. Finally, on
June 28, 2007 NPS
published in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent
to establish a
negotiated rulemaking committee to assist the NPS with
development of the
required ORV regulation. The public comment period
for this Notice of
Intent ends on July 30, 2007.

In addition to the procedures and restrictions
identified within the
Interim Strategy, other federal regulations apply to
ORV and beach use.
These include, but are not limited to, prohibitions on
unsafe operation of
a motor vehicle, reckless driving, carrying open
containers of alcoholic
beverages in a motor vehicle, and driving under the
influence of alcohol or
drugs; requirements to comply with posted speed
limits, use seatbelts, stay
within posted ORV corridors, and stay out of posted
closures; and
prohibitions on disorderly conduct, pets off leash,
illegal camping,
illegal beach fires, and littering.

More information about these planning processes can be
obtained at the Cape
Hatteras National Seashore Off-Road Vehicle Negotiated
Rulemaking and
Management Plan project website at
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/caha. If
you wish to receive electronic information regarding
the Off-Road Vehicle
issue, please contact the park at or call 252-473-2111
ext. 148 or send an
email to cyndy_holda@nps.gov and request to be added
to the mailing list.

--NPS--





Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny "FishinTopsail"
http://fishintopsailpics.blogspot.com/
http://nascardailynews.blogspot.com
Everyone has to be somewhere ..... I'll be fishing!
Freedom isn't free! Someone has paid, for you and for me.